NEW BRUNSWICK
NEW CALEDONIA
already much mitigated by the clearing of the forests. In the interior, the heat in summer rises to 80^, and sometimes to 95^; and in winter, which lasts from the middle of December to the middle of jMarch, the mer- cury sometimes falls as low as 40° below zero. At Frederickton, the capital, situated on St. John Eiver, 65 miles from the south, and 130 miles from the north coast, the temperature ranges from 35° below to 95^ above zero, and the mean is about 42^. In its social circumstances New Brunswick is preferable to any ter- ritory in the same latitude. Though not much given to agricultural development, a healthy state pervades all classes of society, as may be learned from the fact that the provincial penitentiary of St. John contained only thirty convicts (on Dec. 31, 1873). Altogetljer the province has fourteen jails, and these only contained in all 140 inmates, according to the census of 1871. This unusually high moral status of the community is fostered by a system of free public schools, which was last im- proved by an act of 1871. The schools are under the gen- eral supervision of a chief superintendent of education of the province, with a county inspector for each county, and boards of trustees for tlie several districts, and are supported by a provincial grant and a county tax equal to thirty cents per head, supplemented by a local tax, which includes a poll-tax of one dollar per head. The expenditures from the provincial treasury for school purposes during the year ending April 30, 1874, were $r22,067 69. The number of schools in operation dur- ing the summer term ending Oct. 31, 1874, was 1049, with 1077 teachers and 45,539 pupils; number in at- tendance some portion of the year ending on that date, 60,467; number of school districts, 1392; number of school-houses, 1050. A provincial training and model school is sustained at Fredericton ; besides which there is the University of New Brunswick at Fredericton, es- tablished since 1800, which embraces in its curriculum a classical course of three years, and special courses in civil engineering and surveying, agriculture, commerce, and navigation. There is an annual scholarship of $G0 for one student for each countv, Avho also receives tui- tion free; and there are five free scholarships, distrib- uted among the comities and cities, exempting from the payment of tuition fees also. In 1872-73 the number of professors was 7 ; students, 51. The Methodists since 1862 own jMount Allison Weslej^an College at Sackville, which is in connection with the provincial university, and is open to both sexes. It has classical, scientific, and special classes, and provision is made for theolog- ical instruction. A male academy and commercial school, in operation more than thirty years, and a fe- male academy, organized in 1854, are connected with it. In 1873-74 these institutions had 15 professors and instructors (5 in the college), 213 students (34 isi the college), and a library of 4000 volumes. The Roman Catholics have the St. Joseph's College at ISIemram- cook ; it has a commercial course of four years, and a classical course of five years, both taught through the medium of the French and English branches. In 1874-75 it employed 18 professors and instructors, and had 140 stuilents, and a library of 1000 volumes.
The first Wesleyan missionary sent out to this coun- try was the Eev. A.J. Bishop, who arrived in the city of St. John, the capital of the colony, Sept. 24, 1791. He found the inhabitants in a state of great spiritual destitution, and commenced his labors in the true mis- sionary spirit. From this small beginning much good resulted, and the iMethotlists have become a powerful and a respectable body in the country. The Congre- gationalists. Baptists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians have also done much for the sjjrcad of the (Jospel. Al- though the work, as carried on by all denominations in New Brunswick, resembles in many respects that of the mother country, there is still a loud call for an increase of evangelical agency to meet the spiritual necessities of a scattered population in many jiarts of the colony, as numbers are still to be found who seldom hear a Gospel
sermon. The number of the inhabitants in 1871 be- longing to the various religious denominations, ami the number of churches and buildings attached thereto, are shown in the following table :
Denominations.
Number of Adherents.
Churches.
Buildings.
Baptists..
70,59T 45,481 29,S56 38,852 96,010 4,792
226 115 113
80 103
19
238 150 13G
8T 161
23
Methodists
Roman Catholics
Other denominatious. .
Total
285,594
656
795
Of the Baptists, 27,866 were Free-will Baptists, and of the Methodists, 26,212 were Wesleyans. The principal denominations not named in the table were Adventists (711), Christian Conference (1418), Congregationalists (1193), and Universalists (590).
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia originally formed one French colony, called A cadia or New France. The first settlement within the present limits of New Bruns- wick was made by the French on the Bay of Chaleurs in 1639. Other settlements were made in 1672 on the Miramichi liiver, and elsewhere on the east coast. This accounts for the large number of Roman Catholics in the country. In 1713 Acadia was ceded to the English by the treaty of Utrecht. The first British settler es- tablished himself on the Miramichi in 1764, and in 1784 New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia, and erected into a distinct colony. The first legislative as- sembly met at St. John in Januar}-, 1786. At the close of the American Revolution about 5000 royalists from the United States settled there, and their descendants now form a considerable portion of the population. In 1867 New Brunswick was made a British province of the Canadian dominion, and is now ruled bj' a lieutenant- governor, who holds office for five j-ears, assisted by an executive council of nine members, who are all respon- sible to an assembly of the people. See for further de- tails the A merican CijclojHedia, s. v. (J. H.AV.)